CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Ed Davis had 19 points and 10 rebounds while fellow big man Tyler Zeller matched a career high with 18 points to lead No. 10 North Carolina past Marshall 98-61 on Tuesday night.

Marcus Ginyard and Deon Thompson added 14 points apiece and Will Graves had 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Tar Heels (9-3).

They shook off a sloppy start and broke open a surprisingly close game by scoring 18 straight points early in the second half and holding Marshall without a field goal for roughly 5 1/2 minutes.

Shaquille Johnson had 16 points and Tyler Wilkerson added 12 for Marshall (9-2). The Herd had their seven-game winning streak snapped, and were denied their first victory against a ranked team since beating then-No. 9 West Virginia in 2006.

North Carolina claimed the 1,993rd victory in the program’s history — only Kentucky, which one night earlier won its 2,000th, has more. But this one wasn’t well in hand until the Tar Heels closed the first half with a 17-8 run capped by Graves’ 3-pointer 2 seconds before the buzzer.

That made it 44-35, their largest lead of a sluggish opening 20 minutes.

They certainly got themselves back on track after halftime, taking their first double-figure lead when Ginyard hit a layup with about 16 1/2 minutes to play to make it 50-39. Davis ended that burst with a free throw that pushed it to 62-39, and Marshall didn’t get closer than 18 the rest of the way.

Marshall box

No. 10 NORTH CAROLINA 98,

MARSHALL 61

MARSHALL (9-2)

Wilkerson 6-11 0-0 12, Whiteside 3-8 1-2 7, Johnson 7-14 0-0 16, Lutz 0-4 0-0 0, Pitts 1-7 0-0 3, Pena 3-12 0-0 6, Baines 1-7 0-0 2, Haymon 4-6 0-0 8, Merthie 0-2 0-0 0, Spikes 2-5 0-2 4, Miller 0-0 0-0 0, Hordyski 1-1 0-0 3, Fischer 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-78 1-4 61.

NORTH CAROLINA (9-3)

D.Wear 0-1 2-2 2, Thompson 6-13 2-2 14, Davis 7-14 5-6 19, Ginyard 5-10 2-2 14, Drew II 0-4 4-4 4, Strickland 1-5 0-0 2, Graves 4-6 2-4 13, Zeller 7-10 4-6 18, McDonald 0-1 0-0 0, Henson 1-1 2-2 5, T.Wear 2-3 0-0 5, Watts 0-1 0-0 0, Campbell 0-0 0-0 0, Petree 1-1 0-0 2, Thornton 0-1 0-0 0, Gallagher 0-0 0-1 0. Totals 34-71 23-29 98.

Halftime—North Carolina 44-35. 3-Point Goals—Marshall 4-18 (Johnson 2-6, Hordyski 1-1, Pitts 1-5, Wilkerson 0-1, Fischer 0-1, Lutz 0-2, Pena 0-2), North Carolina 7-11 (Graves 3-3, Ginyard 2-4, Henson 1-1, T.Wear 1-1, McDonald 0-1, Thornton 0-1). Fouled Out—Spikes. Rebounds—Marshall 34 (Spikes 7), North Carolina 53 (Davis, Graves 10). Assists—Marshall 11 (Pitts 5), North Carolina 22 (Drew II 6). Total Fouls—Marshall 21, North Carolina 9. A—18,842.